San Diego Suicides Leveling Off

After several years of continued increases, the number of people who killed themselves in the San Diego region has remain relatively the same.

According to the San Diego County Suicide Prevention Council’s 2017 Report to the Community released today, there were 431 deaths by suicide in 2016, four more than the previous year.

“People are learning about the warning signs of suicide and reaching out for help,” said County Supervisor Greg Cox. We hope we can turn the tide and that the number of suicides begins to drop until we have no suicides in San Diego County.”

The report provides a comprehensive look at suicide in the region and brings together data from multiple sources for the years 2012 through 2016.

Among the suicide report’s findings:

Total number of suicides: 431 compared to 427 in 2015.

Emergency department discharges due to self-inflicted injury: 3,348 in 2015 (most recent year available) compared to 3,263 in 2014.

The percentage of crisis calls to the County’s Access and Crisis Line: 7 in 2016 vs. 25.8 in 2015.

Visits to It’s Up to Us, the County’s suicide prevention website: 246,273 in 2016 vs. 210,663 in 2015.

Number of students who seriously considered suicide: 14.5 percent in 2016 vs 17.5 in 2014 (data gathered every other year).

People who participated in suicide prevention training: 1,937 in 2016 vs. 2,747 in 2015.

“Preventing people from ending their life and helping them get help for a mental illness are part of the County’s Live Well San Diego vision of healthy, safe and thriving residents,” said Dr. Michael Krelstein, clinical director of Behavioral Health Services at the County Health and Human Services Agency.

To help curb suicide in San Diego, the County has several ongoing prevention efforts, including the It’s Up to Us campaign, the Question, Persuade and Refer trainings and the Access and Crisis Line, a confidential counseling and referral hotline for people who feel overwhelmed or are experiencing a mental health crisis.

For more information about suicide, risk factors, warning signs, how to get help, resources and training that is available, visit It’s Up to Us or call the County’s Access and Crisis Line at (888) 724-7240.